Shanghai expects record turnout at world’s biggest import trade fair later this year

The countdown to CIIE, the world’s biggest import trade fair, has begun as Shanghai gets ready to play host to thousands of exhibitors and guests from more than 50 countries and international organisations that are expected to attend.

The mega deal-generating event will see exhibitions by hundreds of global and Chinese brands for six days from November 5 to 10. The value of deals at last year’s edition hit an all-time high of US$78.4 billion, an increase of 6.7 per cent year on year, buoyed by increased appetite for foreign goods and services, particularly US farm products, according to the organiser CIIE Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Commerce.

Organisers said interest from trade delegations and professional visitors has been higher and growing faster than last year when they arranged the sixth edition. They said the final count is expected to exceed last year’s when 3,400 exhibitors – including Tesla and Siemens – and nearly 400,000 accredited visitors attended. The number of participants and exhibition area of 367,000 square metres both had hit an all-time high last year.

“The 7th CIIE is about to enter the 100-day sprint stage of preparations,” said Liu Ping, the deputy-secretary general of the Shanghai municipal government who added city authorities will improve and simplify the visa-issuing process for foreign exhibitors and offer more convenient multiple entry visas in the lead up to the event.